5 things you can do to become a better player instantly

Getting better takes practice.
Improving your skills or becoming faster/stronger takes many hours of work.

However, there are certain things you can do to make yourself a better player INSTANTLY.
Here are five:

1. Do what you do!!!
   In games, don't try and do things you aren't good at. Use your strengths.
   (at practice, the opposite is true; use your weaknesses to try and improve on them)
2. Be more active on defense
   Whether your man has the ball or doesn't have the ball, be MORE active. You should never rest on defense. Look for opportunities to cover for teammates and disrupt the offense.
   Great thought - imagine your shoes have paint on them, and try and put as many footprints all over the court as you can
3. Take good shots
   It's amazing how many teams and players CHOOSE to take so many bad shots.
   They CHOOSE to shoot a shot that is only going to go in 10-20% of the time.
   You should only be shooting if you are: open, in range, balanced, and no one on your team has a better shot available.
4. Every time you catch the ball - get your eyes on the rim
   This allows you to see the entire floor and make a good decision with the ball
5. When a shot goes up, NEVER stand still and watch
   If your team shoots, either (a) crash the boards or (b) get back on defense. 
   Don't do (c) stand still and watch the ball.
   Make yourself useful and either crash the boards or get back.
   When the other team shoots, find your man (or the closest man) and block them out - make a hard first contact to stop them getting the ball, then find the ball and try and get it.